If you're working with more than just the usual ATmega328 microcontroller in your Arduino, you may also use the ATtiny2313 - which is leaner and inexpensive, ideal for smaller projects. However this can also be used in the Arduino environment and with the notes by Instructables user "vishalapr" you can make your own programming shield and then upload code straight from the Arduino IDE. Doing so is very simple and a neat project to help expand your hardware knowledge.

To make your own, follow the detailed instructions from here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.